Salisbury spoils Apprentice's opener, rips Builders 42-3

SALISBURY, MD.  -- Ross Flanigan rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns while quarterback Dan Griffin threw for 109 and two touchdowns as Salisbury University defeated Apprentice School 42-3 in front of 1,620 at Sea Gull Stadium in the season opener for both teams.

The hosts opened the scoring on their first play of the season as Griffin connected with Juma Richards on a 55-yard scoring pass just 25 seconds into the game.

Apprentice School responded with a drive going to the Salisbury 37. highlighted by Paul Morgan's 17-yard completion to Tyler Johnson. Freshman Blake Penix then pinned the Sea Gulls on their two-yard line after a 35 yard punt. Each team then held the other on drives to close out the first quarter.

Salisbury scored on its first drive of the second quarter as Flanigan capped a four-play, 49-yard drive running in on a 12-yard scoring burst. The extra-point attempt put Salisbury ahead 14-0 with 14:52 left.

After the Builders went three-and-out, the Apprentice School defense forced a turnover as Corey Sept stripped Griffin on a short run and recovered the ball on the Sea Gull 36. The Builders went on a 30-yard drive with the net coming on a 30-yard connection from Morgan to Al Little putting them in scoring position. Penix then drilled a 23-yard field goal with 6:22 left to cut the deficit to 14-3.

The Sea Gulls pushed two touchdowns across in a two minute span to close out the first half. Griffin connected with Doug Ticse on a 43-yard pass at the 2:23 mark. The extra-point snap was mishandled and Joey Jones was able to scoot in for the two-point run and a 22-3 lead. Flanigan closed out the first half on a 12-yard scoring run with 19 seconds left to take a 29-3 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Flanigan scored his third touchdown on a 46-yard run midway through the third quarter and Salisbury ended the scoring with 12:39 left in the fourth as Joey Sutch scored on a nine-yard run.

Morgan was 11-for-20 for 123 yards through the air as Johnson was the leading receiver catching five passes for 62 yards. Johnathan Jones topped the defense with nine tackles and a fumble recovery, while Aaron Finley and Darren Clark had six tackles each. Finley added a tackle for loss, forced fumble, fumble recovery and a pass breakup to his effort.

Apprentice School hits the road again on September 10 as they travel to Buies Creek, N.C. to face NCAA Division I-AA Campbell University at 1 pm. This is the first-ever matchup with a NCAA Division I-AA opponent.